This invention generally relates to wireless communications, and in particular relates to subscriber provisioning of wireless services.
Wireless service fees have decreased significantly because of competition among wireless providers. This has resulted in wireless phones becoming ubiquitous, and basic service becoming a commodity. As service fees bottom out, wireless service providers distinguish their offerings through means other than rates, such as by offering supplementary features such as call forwarding, caller identification, voice messaging, and other features or options that another provider does not offer, or does not offer at a competitive cost.
Typically a subscriber chooses the various features they want, such as caller identification or call forwarding, when service is initially established with a wireless service provider. Such features are typically charged at an additional fee on top of basic service, and can be very profitable for the wireless service provider. The service is implemented by an employee of the wireless provider who provisions a home location register with the information associated with the particular subscriber in the form of a profile. The home location register (HLR) is a database that contains records, or profiles, about each subscriber for which the HLR acts as the servicing HLR. The appropriate billing center is also notified of the subscriber and any ancillary features so that the subscriber is properly billed.
An HLR is typically provisioned by a wireless provider employee via some type of direct-connect device, such as a terminal, which translates the particular provisioning command into one or more HLR access messages. Upon receiving the HLR access message(s), the HLR updates the appropriate profile. Consequently, provisioning an HLR involves labor and other resources of the wireless provider.
If, after a subscriber profile has been initially created and provisioned in the HLR, the subscriber later wishes to add or cancel certain features, the wireless provider must be notified of the desired changes, and provider resources are again allocated to provision the HLR. This is relatively costly to the provider in terms of labor costs. Thus, it would be desirable to a wireless provider if a subscriber could provision their profile in the HLR directly, reducing labor costs of the wireless provider.
The ability for a subscriber to directly provision a wireless component, such as an HLR, may create a demand for additional features, and result in additional revenues for the provider. For example, one such feature could be to allow a wireless subscriber to provision a local number on an HLR associated with a remote area for use by the subscriber when in the remote area. Such a feature would reduce toll charges for the subscriber, and the wireless service provider would generate additional fees. For example, assume a subscriber having wireless service in Cincinnati travels to Chicago. If an individual in Chicago attempts to phone the subscriber by dialing the Cincinnati phone number of the subscriber""s wireless phone, the phone call is first routed to Cincinnati, then back to Chicago, resulting in toll charges for both the individual and the subscriber. To eliminate these toll charges, the subscriber could request from a Chicago service provider a temporary local number for use in Chicago. However, to accomplish this, the subscriber must determine ahead of time what wireless providers provide service in Chicago, choose one of the providers, call the provider, determine if the fee for the service is acceptable, and if so provide the appropriate billing and other information to the provider. The wireless service provider in Chicago allocates labor resources to field this call, obtain billing information, and provision its HLR with the proper information necessary to provide the subscriber with a local phone number. This process is time-consuming, it requires the subscriber to determine what companies offer wireless service in a remote location, and it requires the subscriber to contact the provider on what could be very short notice. Consequently, wireless subscribers frequently determine that this process is more trouble than it is worth. Thus, it is apparent that it would be desirable to provide a mechanism for subscriber provisioning of wireless services.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method and system for subscriber provisioning of wireless services is provided. Provisioning requests made by a subscriber are received by a World Wide Web (WEB) server, packaged into one or more HLR access messages, such as IS-41 or GSM MAP messages, suitable for provisioning a wireless component in accordance with the request, transported over an internet protocol network, and delivered to a wireless gateway server. The gateway server strips off the internet protocol transport data, adds message transfer part (MTP) transport data, and forwards the HLR access message to the appropriate wireless component, such as a home location register (HLR). The HLR receives the HLR access message, implements the appropriate modifications in accordance with the HLR access message, and generates a response using the MTP protocol. The wireless gateway server receives the response, strips off the MTP transport data, adds the appropriate internet protocol transport data, and forwards the message to the WEB server, which in turn formats the message into an HTML page and sends it to the computer from which the request originated. The present invention allows a subscriber to provision a wireless component without time-consuming interaction with an employee of the service provider, allows the service provider to generate a user-friendly interface to inform subscribers of services and their cost, and reduces service provider labor costs associated with provisioning a wireless component.
According to another embodiment of the present invention the HLR is coupled to an internet protocol network, and the HLR access message is sent using the internet protocol transport directly to the HLR, eliminating the need to use the MTP protocol and a wireless gateway server.
According to one embodiment of this invention, an HTML page is communicated from a WEB server to a computer coupled to an internet protocol network. A WEB browser receives and displays the HTML page to an individual interested in obtaining a wireless service. The individual requests one or more services through point-and-click interaction with the browser, and the WEB server generates one or more HLR access messages, such as IS-41 or GSM MAP messages, suitable to provision a wireless component in accordance with the request. The HLR access message(s) is communicated to the wireless component, directly or indirectly, which then modifies the appropriate information to implement the request. The wireless component can automatically generate a billing record and send the record to a billing system that is in communication with the internet protocol network to ensure the subscriber is properly billed for the service.
According to another embodiment of the present invention a subscriber can provision a wireless component associated with a remote service area to obtain a local number for use by the subscriber when the subscriber is in the remote service area. An HTML page is communicated from a WEB server to a computer and displayed to the subscriber. The subscriber uses a WEB browser to enter relevant information, such as a date range during which the local number will be used by the subscriber, and billing information of the subscriber, in the HTML page. The information entered by the subscriber is then sent to the WEB server. The WEB server can then generate the appropriate HLR access message(s) to carry out the subscriber""s request and send it to a wireless component, such as an HLR or a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO). The HLR access message(s) provision the HLR or MTSO to activate a local telephone number for use by the subscriber during the specified dates. The local number is then returned to the computer for display to the subscriber. The subscriber can record this local number, and provide the telephone number to individuals located in the remote area for use while the subscriber is in the remote area. The use of the local number eliminates toll calls that would otherwise be incurred by both the caller and the subscriber.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a system for provisioning a location register over an internet protocol network is provided. A receiving module is operable to receive from an input device coupled to an internet protocol network a request to modify information in a location register. A conversion module coupled to the receiving module is operable to convert the request into at least one HLR access message, and a location register or a MTSO is operable to modify information in the location register in response to the at least one HLR access message.
Still other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in this art from the following description wherein there are shown and described preferred embodiments of this invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other different obvious aspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.